Cancer cells have the ability to invade blood vessels and find their way into the bloodstream. Once there, these infected cells can easily travel to other parts of the body and attack healthy organs.
While migration and deformability have been identified as key factors that determine the invasive capability of cancer cells, it has been almost impossible to study these cell characteristics quantitatively until now.
IBN Scientists Dr M M Maran, Dr Francis Tay, Dr Peilin Mao and student Leonard Chu, have invented the first-ever microfluidic BioMEMS device to study the mechanisms of cell migration and deformation.
Said Dr Maran, the project’s Lead Scientist: “Several studies have suggested that cancer cells gain access to the blood vessels and lymphatic vessels through open inter-endothelial gaps or by inducing the opening of closed gaps.
“It is also believed that tumor vessels are ‘leaky’ with a low blood flow rate. Within a vascularized tumor, cancer cells may easily enter newly formed vessels, which often lack intact endothelial cells.
“However, while these observations provide a good qualitative description of tumor invasion, they do not provide us with quantitative information about the size of the inter-endothelial gaps that allow cancer cells to pass through or how cancer cells are able to migrate through these gaps. That is why we have developed a device that can be used to study the mechanism of cell migration and deformation in blood vessels.”
IBN’s device has a multi-gap design that mimics the microenvironment in the body to enable the study of the migration, deformation and proliferation of cells through gaps in vessels. It aims to help researchers to quantify the extent that cells can deform themselves through gaps in vessels. This information will contribute to a better understanding of the characteristics of cell invasion and metastatic mechanism.